Dynamo edge Fire to advance in MLS playoffs

Updated 12:02 am, Thursday, November 1, 2012

The Fire's Austin Berry, left, is helpless to stop Dynamo forward Will Bruin from scoring his first goal in the 12th minute. Brad Davis picked up the assist.

The Fire's Austin Berry, left, is helpless to stop Dynamo forward Will Bruin from scoring his first goal in the 12th minute. Brad Davis picked up the assist.

Photo: David Banks, Stringer

Dynamo edge Fire to advance in MLS playoffs

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BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Immediately after scoring the first of his two goals, forward Will Bruin sensed Wednesday night would belong to the Dynamo.

Once he added his second goal in the first minute of the second half, he was all but sure the Chicago Fire were done. And he was right.

Bruin found little resistance from the Fire at Toyota Park, and the two-time MLS Cup champion Dynamo can build on their rich history with their first MLS playoff game at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Bruin leaped unmarked to head in his first goal and added a clever finish for his second, pushing the Dynamo into the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 2-1 victory over the Fire in the knockout round of the MLS Cup playoffs.

"After that first goal, we kind of had that feeling that it was our game," Bruin said. "We were playing well. We were putting them under pressure, and we were able to get a reward for our good play. Then we started the second half real strong. Got a quick second goal there, and we played a pretty good game."

With the victory before 10,923, the Dynamo set up a rematch of the 2011 Eastern Conference final against top seed Sporting Kansas City, which has never beaten the Dynamo in the playoffs.

The Dynamo defeated K.C. in the 2007 Western Conference finals 2-0 and then in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals 2-0. The three-time finalists, who had never entered the playoffs seeded lower than No. 2, will try to return to the MLS Cup finals after entering the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's fifth seed.

The Dynamo will face Kansas City at BBVA Compass Stadium at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the first match of the home-and-away Eastern Conference semifinal that will be decided by aggregate score.

Dynamo's early strike

Two minutes after Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall came off his line in the 11th minute for the save after Alvaro Fernandez slipped behind Kofi Sarkodie down the left wing, the Dynamo took the lead. Former Fire forward Calen Carr won a corner kick with a run down the left wing.

Brad Davis capitalized with a beautiful corner kick. Bruin headed the ball into the lower corner of the net by the near post to give the Dynamo a lead.

The Dynamo almost made it 2-0 when Bobby Boswell headed a corner kick just over the crossbar in the 43rd minute. A minute into the second half, midfielder Ricardo Clark stole the ball from Fire defender Gonzalo Segares on the right wing and fed the ball to Carr.

Double the margin

Then Carr passed to Bruin, who converted the finish to give the Dynamo a 2-0 lead.

"To score first was great for us," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "I thought we played well in the first half. And then it was a dream start to the second half with the goal. It was a fantastic tackle by Ricardo and then a good play by Calen and Will to finish it off."

The Fire almost cut the deficit in half when Arne Friedrich blasted a shot from close range, but Hall hardly had to move while making the save.

Hall made a spectacular leaping save in the 74th minute to deny Patrick Nyarko. Nine minutes later, Alex cut the Dynamo lead in half with a goal from the left side of the box, but the Dynamo held on.

"Once the goal came obviously it gave us a huge boost of confidence," Carr said. "Just looking around the group the energy was good from the beginning of the game. I thought we were able to impose our will on the game early and also coming out on the second half as well. I think the way we started the game and the way we started the second half was a huge part in our success."